Badoni to lead Delhi's record 24-member squad for Ranji opener; Nitish Rana returns

New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) An unprecedented 24-member squad has been named for Delhi's opening Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad, starting October 15, with Ayush Badoni set to lead the side and Yash Dhull appointed his deputy.

The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) selection committee, which met on Thursday, recalled senior batter Nitish Rana — back in the Delhi fold after a brief stint with Uttar Pradesh — straightaway into the red-ball squad.

"The selectors have named 24 because they felt that a larger pool is always available for selection during each game. However, when we play home games in Delhi, we will prune it down to 15," DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma told PTI.

On Rana's return, Sharma said: "He is an experienced player and the selectors wanted to check him out. In any case, he will play the white-ball leg. In fact, in the next game, we are expecting Rishabh Pant to play." The meeting was attended by selectors Yashpal Singh, K Bhaskar Pillai, and Manu Nayar, along with chief coach Sarandeep Singh, CAC member Surinder Khanna, and DDCA officials Ashok Sharma (Secretary) and Amit Grover (Joint Secretary).

"All selected players have been instructed to report to chief coach Sarandeep for practice on October 10 at the St Stephen's Ground," DDCA said in a release.

Delhi squad: Ayush Badoni (captain), Yash Dhull (vice-captain), Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Anuj Rawat (wk), Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Rounak Waghela, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Doseja, Rahul Dagar, Hrithik Shokeen, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana, Aryan Rana (subject to fitness). PTI ATK AM ATK AM AM